Our Floor Buying Guide

This guide has been written to help you decide which type of flooring to buy and where to buy from. It covers the most popular types of floor coverings in the Carpets, Rugs, Underlay, Vinyls, Karndean flooring, Laminated Flooring and any related accessories. It will help you to make the correct choice when purchasing and save you money, time and effort.

Getting the right carpeting or flooring may be something you hadn't thought about before but you will know that in a home it is actually an important aspect. Sorting out things for your home can be expensive however we try and make sure you dont have to spend a fortune when picking your carpet. We offer you good quality products at excellent value.

You will need to ask yourself a few questions before you begin, the answers to these questions will assist you in selecting the right product for your requirements, and these questions will apply to all types of flooring.

Which room is the new flooring or carpet to be used?

Does that area to be covered get heavy foot traffic?

How long do I want my flooring to last?

How much money do I want to allocate to my new flooring?

Who is the purchase for?

Do I want my carpet or flooring fitted?

These questions will help you identify your needs, which is normally our job in store. Once you have indentified your needs look below for a more detailed guide on different types of flooring. We hope this helps you choose. If however your unsure of any element call our carpet and flooring help line on 01702 218 218.

Carpets and Vinyls

Carpet and vinyl vary a great deal both in price and quality and there are 1000s to choose from. For most people buying a carpet or vinyl is a daunting task, its a question of fighting off hard salesman on commission in large stores, to try and find a style, colour and price that suits. However armed with the right research information you will find it a lot easier buying the correct floor covering for the job and you will not get ripped off in the process!

Most carpets are made in 4 & 5 meter wide rolls bathroom carpets which are made narrower at 2 meter wide rolls as bathrooms tend to be smaller). Most vinyls are made in multi width either 2m, 3m or 4m wide they are rated as follows:

Suitable for general wear and high traffic areas. Stairs, Walk through rooms in commercial lighter traffic areas.

Extra Heavy Domestic

Suitable for busy households that need their carpet to last under pressure.

Heavy Contract

Suitable for commercial areas such as offices, schools, pubs, clubs and any other busy public areas.

These suitability ratings can be found on the back of carpet samples along with other info such as Range Name, Colour Code, Style, Pile Content, Available widths and Manufacturer. These ratings are important if you choose a carpet not man enough for the job it will look shabby, start flattening and generally wear quickly, so the money spent will have been wasted. I always advise people to carpet one room properly rather than getting two rooms fitted quickly especially if you intend to stay at the property for a number of years.

Shop Around...

If you want to compare carpet prices at other stores like for like you will need to take a note pad when shopping to take down the Range name/Colour/Manufacturer. However be warned the big stores and some internet stores donít like you shopping around, and so have a nasty habit of changing the range names and colour names on their carpets and vinyls. This makes it harder for you to shop around it also allows them to offer a price guarantee that you will not find it cheaper! (We always advise people to ask to borrow the sample to match to their furnishings.) You can then shop on a like for like basis to check prices.

Do not fall for sales gimmicks of the larger stores where they inflate the price of a carpet in one store for a month, then reduce it nationwide by 60% then give a further 20% limited period discount off of that. It wasnít worth the original price so although perfectly legal the product was not really discounted!! Buying from smaller shops is the best and easiest way to shop around; you will always get a higher level of service from people who actually want you to be happy with your purchase and return.

Carpet, Underlay and accessories

Carpet accessories also vary a great deal in price and quality, take carpet underlay for instance. We have access to over 100 different types. Basically they are split into 3 categories for domestic use the cheapest being cellular foam, the most popular is Rubber waffle underlay, and the quickly rising in popularity APT Foam Underlay (The best). Underlay is an important consideration when buying a new carpet as it can prolong the life of your new carpet by up to 60% and the extra comfort underfoot really will make a new carpet feel fantastic, choosing the best you can afford is paramount, it is a false economy putting a good carpet on a cheap underlay. We have listed below the pros and cons of these different types.

Cellular Foam Underlays like Foamtex are ideal for light usage areas or if you are on a tight budget, rated in depth in mm they have good insulation properties and will give a new carpet moderate support, also good for people who are selling/developing and are not going to see the benefit of the underlay.

Rubber waffle underlay is still the most popular underlay in the, it is normally graded by the makers in lbs per roll of 15 Sq m (18 SqYds) from 60lb to the 100lb, then the heaviest being 130lb per roll but the size of the heavy weight rolls is normal 10-12 sqm because of the weight. The heavier the weight the denser the rubber so the softer the feel. The good side of the rubber underlay is the comfort and variety meaning you can use a lighter weight in lighter use areas saving you money. The bad points are that eventually they break down and go to dust under a carpet

APT foam underlay like Cloud 9are the best, which are made from recycled furniture foam and from off cuts from manufacturing which is pressed and glued together which gives a long lasting superb cushion to any carpet, they also offer great stability and bounce back properties which is good for heavy traffic areas demanding a high degree of comfort such as a staircase or a busy room. Also good for areas where furniture crushing occurs.

Fitting Carpet

Fitting carpet is a skill that requires specialist knowledge and tools, it should always be left to a professional carpet fitter, preferably with the appropriate qualifications - for example, a member of "NICF" (National Institute of Carpet & Floor layers). You can locate a carpet fitter by visiting www.nicfltd.org.uk

Another good source is via Yellow Pages, either offline or online.

Laminate Flooring

Essentially all laminate flooring is composed of three layers, a surface layer, a core layer and a backing layer. These layers are fused together under extreme heat and pressure to form a hard wearing board. The colour density and grain effect of the laminate board are the resulting finish from a print photograph laminated inside the top surface . Because of the photographic technology used to produce the board's pattern and colour laminate flooring is available in a wide variety of styles with few limitations. Wood and stone effects are very popular but are by no means the only finishes available.

Location and Use

Laminate floors are suitable for most rooms in the house. We particularly recommend them for areas which are heavily used such as your kitchen, living rooms and dining rooms. They are also ideal for "special purpose" rooms such as your home office, library and workshop. Laminated floors are virtually wear proof, great for homes with a large amount of foot fall. They are exceedingly easy to maintain without costly chemicals or polishes and will not fade even in direct sunlight.

We are happy to answer or help with any other questions or enquiries you may have regarding any type of new flooring please call us on 01702 433 522.